Monday Matters: Mount Magazine Wildlife Tech Honored

PARIS — The U.S. Department of Agriculture Forest Service provides a two-page job description for a wildlife technician on its website. Richard Carpenter’s description is much less drawn out.

PARIS — The U.S. Department of Agriculture Forest Service provides a two-page job description for a wildlife technician on its website. Richard Carpenter’s description is much less drawn out.

"Mindi tells me what I need to do, and I do it," Carpenter said.

Mindi is Mindi Lawson, the district biologist for the Forest Service Mount Magazine Ranger District, and Carpenter is the wildlife technician for the district.

Carpenter, 60, of Ozark is responsible for implementation of the district’s wildlife habitat improvement program, is the district’s primary tractor operator, is a certified herbicide applicator, a chain saw operator, a wildlife program contracting officer representative, a team member on the district’s prescribed fire crew, in charge of all maintenance for facilities and three living quarters in the district, and assists with recreational programs.

On any given day, he can be found pouring cement for a boat ramp, doing goose roundups, doing "gobble counts" (counting turkeys), electroshocking one of three lakes he manages to count the fish, brush-hogging a wildlife maintenance opening, doing electrical or plumbing work, clearing downed trees that are blocking roads (which happened during an ice storm in February) or doing a Magazine Mountain Shagreen count.

The Magazine Mountain Shagreen is a half-inch snail found only on Mount Magazine. The snail was recently delisted from being threatened under the Endangered Species Act, and was the first ever invertebrate to be delisted, Lawson said.

While dodging snakes and rock slides while combing through leaves and loose rock on a steep slope under Cameron Bluff isn’t his favorite task, Carpenter said it still beats sitting up in the park twiddling his thumbs.

"To have the energy he has, he’s shamed a few younger folks," said Rob Kopack, the Mount Magazine Ranger District deputy ranger.

And Carpenter isn’t one to sit back and supervise. About being a boss, Carpenter said he’s been there and done that.

"Just give me a list, and I’ll get it done," Carpenter said.

Before he got into wildlife management, Carpenter had completed 75 hours at Arkansas Tech University in the parks and recreation program when he decided "I was too smart" for that, and he quit school and took a job at a pallet plant in Mulberry. He then owned and operated the Lakeside Food Mart in Ozark, a convenience/sporting goods store, for 15 years.

Although he was north of 40 before he got involved professionally in wildlife management, Carpenter said, he got his first bird dog when he was 10 years old, and hunting and fishing have always been part of his life.

When he was offered a job in 1999 as a technician with the Arkansas Game & Fish Commission, working in the Mount Magazine Wildlife Management Area, Carpenter said he was glad to leave behind seven-day work weeks at the store.

When a technician position opened up with the Forest Service at Mount Magazine, Kopack said, they were happy to steal him away from Game & Fish, after having worked in cooperation with him for several years.

Carpenter recently received the National Making Tracks Award of Individual Habitat Management Projects, from the National Wild Turkey Federation, which recognizes his work over several years on a program that benefit wild turkeys.

Over the program years, Carpenter has restored and maintained 65 acres of native warm season grass fields, constructed 358 gates to protect and improve watershed conditions and wildlife habitat, constructed 12 ponds and managed the Huckleberry Mountain 7,700 acres walk-in only turkey hunting area.

Kopack said only one of the Forest Service’s 30,000 employees is honored with the award each year.

Part of the reason for Carpenter’s success is his ability to cooperate and coordinate with a multitude of partners the Forest Service works with, including: Game & Fish, the Arkansas State Forestry Commission, Paris Rotary Club, Yell County Wildlife Federation, the Mount Magazine Chapter of the NWTF, National Resources Conservation Service and State Parks of Arkansas.

The time Carpenter spends in the woods also makes him a valuable asset to law enforcement in spotting illegal bait sites, deer stands, potential poaching and other illegal activities, said Kopack.

Kopack said biologists and technicians from other ranger districts also regularly call Carpenter seeking information and advice.

And if Carpenter doesn’t know something, he’s not afraid to call and ask someone, saying he’d rather do that than not get a job done right the first time.

When Carpenter does need help, Lawson said, it helps that he knows everyone within a 100-mile radius.

Carpenter said the only aspect of his job he doesn’t like is when he has to take online courses for continuing education that keep him stuck in the office.

"After eight long hours online, I want to shoot myself in the head," Carpenter said.

Instead, Carpenter saves his bullets for ducks and turkeys and also takes his grandchildren deer hunting.

Carpenter and his wife, Charlotte, who celebrate their 33rd anniversary today, have four children and seven grandchildren.

As for the job, Carpenter said he loves what he does and he’ll retire only when it’s not fun anymore.